Step 13: Enjoy The Show!

Hello there! Brian Allen here, Training/Technical Specialist at Elemental LED bringing you my very first Instrucatable. I've always been somewhat of a music fanatic (ok...ok, so that may be a slight understatement), whether it's listening, creating, or incorporating lighting of some sort.

I was chatting with some close friends of mine who DJ this last summer about building some sort of an interactive DJ booth that would create a light show based on the music being played,much like the artist Pretty Lights. Their interest along with my own inspired me to finally come about building such a beast.

What we have here is a series of 5 LED panels that correspond with different beats, or decibels(dB), to create an instant light show. Some people have referred to my build as somewhat of a visual equalizer at times, it all depends on the type of music you like to jam to!

The trick was to build something that would have a grand appearance without a large cost that you would normally pay for at DJ or lighting stores while remaining lightweight so one can easily transport.

Overall I took roughly 25 hours for the project from designing to building. Once your done, it's as simple as selecting which mode(s) you want to use along with your iPod, smartphone, stereo, or in my case- turntables.

Here I'll walk you through the steps to build your own! I built mine to a specific size for my purpose but feel free to change it up and create your own dimensions.

Step 1: What Your Going To Need To Create Your Masterpiece

5 - DMX Decoders (I have 6 pictured, due to the fact that I purchased clearance decoders I needed to purchase a non-clearance one to adapt between the Apollo Jammer and the clearance decoders as the Apollo doesn't have an RJ45 output. I would advise sticking with decoders that have XLR ports as it will make your install much easier)

1 - 300 Watt 12vDC Power Supply (This can vary depending on the size of your build, mine was 220 watts total and it's advised to use a power supply that is at least 20% larger than your load to relieve stress and prolong life)

Wire - The AWG or "Wire gauge" will also depend on the LED load attached to each DMX Decoder, in my case 18/2 was just fine.

RGB Wire - Not much is needed, just a couple to a few inches per corner. It's color coded to assist you with wiring. You can also use RGB Strip-To-Strip Bending Extensions but soldering is always a more permanent and reliable solution.

DMX 3-Pin XLR Cable - You can either make one from the XLR ends provided with the standard DMX Decoder or you can purchase a pre-assembled one from Elemental LED as well.

This next group of materials you can pick up from various hardware or department stores

<p>It appears that none of the links to Elemental work. Are they out-of-date?</p>

<p>so awesome </p>

<p>I finally finished this project after about a year in the making. Since my budget was very low, I had to get all the things together slowly over time. I also modified it so that I installed in a wood frame based DJ facade. The pictures are of what I built and being used during a Christmas party. Unfortunately, they left the lights on so you really couldn't see the LEDs. But the video I uploaded to YouTube speaks for itself. Thank you for making this instructable.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fr8jMQXrxD8" width="500"></iframe></p>

<p>awesome stuff man!</p>

<p>How strong and sturdy are the plastic tubes for frame? Can a client lean on them when talking to you? That is the biggest problem I have with my DIY facade. They lean on them all the time. I am now building a much stronger one with aluminum, but I like your clear tubes. Need to know how strong they are. Thanks and great job.</p>

<p>what is the price for the full setup?</p>

The link for the DMX settings takes me to a 4 channel version, but no indication on how to set them.

<p>Are these 5050 RGB LED?</p>

<p>I think I pooped a bit from perfectness. is it possible to make each panel react to different sounds (eg middle and two outside beats and bass and in between highs and rhythm)?</p>

<p>Why yes it is possible! You would simply need to address each panel differently, depending on the address selected you will come to different effects. For my example I duplicated DMX addresses in order to have the outer panels in sync with one another. </p>

<p>brilliant! thank you so much!</p>

Is this possible with only four panels? If so, how would you arrange the bass, mids and highs?

It can be done with 3 if you basically follow the instructions only setting up the left 3 or right 3 panels. <br><br>Seeing that this revolves around &quot;Bass&quot;, &quot;Mid&quot;, and &quot;High&quot;, it would need to be done in multiples of 3, this would mean a 4th panel would replicate another panel in the system.

<p>low, mid low, mid high, high</p>

Can DMX be set that way? I don't have experience with them

do we have any cheaper version of this project???

I would love to do this but it's so expensive. Is there any areas of the project where I could cut back the cost?

I was wondering if I can use myDMX (a light application on PC) just to change the color, brightness and flashing and stuff like that

Do you think a computer supply would work? I keep seeing lighted led fans that i think would look sweet.

As long as the power supply output is 12vDC you should be fine. I believe the output of some computer power supplies varies from 5-12vDC depending on taps/connectors.

can you take away the jack and just take te dmx cabel it to a miks or myDMX on pc? or must you have the jack?

I'm not entirely sure what your asking, the DMX setup would essentially work with most DMX controllers but it all depends on what your trying to procure as far as results. <br>

Awesome build, can't wait to build one. I tought about using 1.5&quot; PVC piping for the frames and stretch a fabric over it. Would this make it too flimsy and then I would need to build supports?

Though I've worked with PVC quite heavily in the past, I've never built a frame using it. I would immagine it to be possible but supports would be definiate at the corner points. <br> <br>If being lightweight isn't too much of a hinderance for you, I considered using Unistrut, or power strut, to build my frames. It would be a higher cost but extremely durable.

Could you use some white Asate instead of sheets ?

I'm not entirely sure what Asate is, however a coworker of mine mentioned that a material that goes by the name of &quot;Homewrap&quot; may be a decent alternative. Essentially it's a large, commercial, heat shrink wrap that's used on automotive to building applications.

is it possible to change the color combination. instead of blue red and pink, green blue and red? or any other combination of RGB light? I read about the apollo jammer setting 4 and the DMX dip switches but i dont fully understand the customization possibilities.

Of Course! I have mine set to those colors because I liked them the most. You can randomize them, change the frequency to color ratios (which are predetermined in the settings, but you still get a good handful).<br> <br> You can take a look at the <a href="http://www.elementalled.com/pdf/elemental-apollo-jammer-manual.pdf" rel="nofollow">instruction manual</a> for more information on the dip switch settings.<br> <br> Basically each panel has a decoder; depending on what setting you &quot;address&quot; the dip switches to determines what colors it will output in response to which frequencies. There's more available than listed in the instructions, but it take a little bit of time to play with them all and get a good idea. If your looking for other color combinations you can simply swap the colored wires to &quot;force&quot; different colors. I.E. if the decoder says one setting is typically Red but you want Green, simply swap the Red and Green wires.<br> <br>

How did you make these stand on there own?

The panels are actually resting against the table for the DJ equipment and some of the speakers for the system. In a way it's nice to be able to hide the speakers behind something more appealing.

How much did this roughly cost to make?

I had a lot laying around from previous projects, considering that I probably spent close to $450 for what I needed to complete the project. I have a previous post below which lists the total cost of the project @ ~$1700 if you built it exactly as I did.

awesome, about how much do you think it costs per panel?

You could probably assemble a 2'x3' panel for as little as $100-150. It would depend on the density of your RGB strip light as well as how much you utilize per panel. Mine was ~10' per panel, which I think I could have been scaled down to 2 sides rather than the entire parameter. I've seen a couple similar projects done with just the bottom 2' section of a panel with decent results. The advantage to having the entire parameter is that it give you a &quot;pulsating&quot; effect that's pretty cool. <br> <br>Brian

Hi! <br>Being a student I know this is out of my budget. But I was wondering if you would be willing to give up information about what Apollo Jammer and DMX Decoder schematics look like. or what do they help in achieving in this? What I can understand is that they drive LED's using the signals fed by Apollo. and I think Apollo splits the audio signal into highs, mids lows. Am I correct in guessing this? Is it possible to replicate this using some other equipment. I know that I am asking a lot as you people are making these to make profit and not turn away customers. But I am still learning and have a basic knowledge when it comes to electronics. I am programming student.

I'm sure you can probably create something on your own, unfortunately I'm not as skilled in micro electronics as I wish I was and access to such information is limited. <br> <br>However I've seen some great tutorials on indestructible and the web for doing something similar to what you requested. <br> <br>Essentially the Jammer actually takes the audio input signal and assigns certain dB levels to corresponding colors. You are correct in assuming that there is a defined range for the Low, Mid and Highs. Of course this all depends on the type of light/fixture/components you have attached to the Jammer. <br> <br>Hope this helps, <br> <br>Brian

How about putting each panel in Infinity Mirror it will look GREAT ! a very different dimension to those lights too

I actually looked into this but it would have made the cost of the project soar to unexpected heights. Maybe sometime in the future. <br> <br>Brian

This is beautiful, As a frequent sound engineer at a venue and a theater lighting designer this is a fantasy of mine. Congrats,I really like how you mapped the lights. All the dj light controllers iv used just change light with the bass and this is how I always pictures they should work. <br>I also appreciate your appreciation for glitch mob.

$2000 is much more than I expected when you said it didn't have such a large cost (you can probably tell that I don't often shop for these types of things). Any suggestions or ways the price could be lowered in terms of materials? Obviously smaller sized or fewer panels would reduce the price. Awesome project though!

I just did a quick compilation of the items we sell @ Elemental LED which came to $1770. The majority of cost is the RGB strip lighting, which will run you upwards of $1000 list for 4 spools. You could use standard density RGB which would save you roughly $200. I really wanted my panels to be as bright as possible so I spent the extra money. <br> <br>As far as other materials go, a price conscious builder could consider using wood and basic wood screws for the frame, with staples to attach the canvas/sheet. This would be a fairly basic and cost effective way to build frames.

Thanks! I was definitely thinking I'd make three or five very skinny frames since I wouldn't need that big of a setup. Would any type of strip/ribbon LED lighting work? Also, if I am using a smaller amount of the LED ribbon, could I use a smaller power source or would you recommend just using the same thing? Thanks!

It all depends on how bright you want your panels to be, as long as you use RGB strip lighting you should be in the clear. <br> <br>On the note of using a smaller amount you are correct, simply take the amount of strip light you have, I.E. 4 feet @ 4.4 watts per foot = 17.6 Watts, you should add an extra %20 to that number to determine your power supply needed. So, 17.6 divided by .8 = 22 watts, in turn you should source a power supply that has a minimum of 22 watts or more for your project. <br> <br>The reason why I suggest the extra %20 is due to the fact that your power supply won't be &quot;working&quot; as hard as it would be if it were maxed out, this will extend the life of your system overall as well.

I followed up until step 7.... where on earth do we get all those bits and pieces for cheap, like a 300W 12V power brick? Hmmm, might have to duck into the shed and just grab one of the many I have hanging up there. Nice instructable though, very concise.

If the bits and pieces your referring to are the Ethernet patch cables(white cables going between the decoders), they came with the decoders when I purchased them. They're also available at stores like Radio Shack or easily found online for cheap. <br> <br>The DMX cables you can purchase from Elemental LED as well if you need more, the standard decoders with the XLR ports we carry come with both a male and a female DMX 3-Pin connector that you can simply make your own cable depending on length with a 3 conductor wire. <br> <br>As for the power supply, I had one laying around, which helped with my overall cost of the project. <br> <br>You could probably search online for cheaper power supplies, keep in mind they most likely wont be backed by the pleasant warranty that Elemental LED offers.

Price is the only issue for me, which i thought maybe i can use regular lights/colored lights with gels and such. Because the apollo jammer is specific to LED is there something else that can do the same thing just connect to regular lights?